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The Hole In the Ground

03/03/19

The myth of the changeling goes back to the earliest times and it’s around that conceit that writer/director Lee Cronin has based this effective, low-budget horror movie, which sees young mother, Sara (Seána Kerslake), recently separated from an apparently abusive spouse, attempting to settle into a new home with her young son, Chris (James Quinn Markey). The fact that the house in question is located in the wilds of Ireland, uncomfortably close to a vast and ancient forest, guarantees that viewers’ nerves are on edge from the vertiginous credit sequence onwards, an effect that’s cleverly accentuated by Stephen McKeon’s ominous score.

Sara and Chris soon encounter one of the neighbours, the seemingly mentally disturbed Noreen (Kati Utennan), who tells everyone that her young son was strangely transformed into somebody entirely different, shortly before he was killed in a mysterious ‘car accident.’ When Chris, after an argument with his mother, runs off into the forest, Sara pursues him and discovers the huge sinkhole of the title, an impressive creation that seems to serve as a metaphor for ensuing events, as Sara’s realties begin to subside inexorably beneath her. Soon, Chris is exhibiting uncharacteristic behaviour… and Sara begins to come around to the idea that Nora’s ramblings might not be quite as crazy as they sound.

Cronin’s approach to the story is all the more powerful because he steadfastly refuses to fill in too many details. We never learn why Sara has been abandoned by her partner, nor what caused that mysterious scar on her forehead. Indeed, at times we begin to suspect that Chris’s changes might just be a product of Sarah’s own imagination. But the steadily mounting atmosphere of clinging dread is expertly handled and there are some knockout scenes along the way. A sequence where Sarah views her son’s bizarre nighttime antics from a gap under his bedroom door is particularly terrifying and actually has me holding my breath as it plays out. Kerslake is terrific in the lead role and young Quinn Markey somehow manages to switch effortlessly from angelic to demonic and back again, all in a heartbeat.

There’s a tendency, of course, for tense fright movies like this one to go completely off the rails in the final furlong – Hereditary, I’m looking at you – but, while the final confrontation here lacks the terror of earlier stretches and is perhaps a little too reminiscent of The Descent, it holds up pretty well if you’re prepared to turn a blind eye to a few loose ends. Furthermore, I love the slippery coda which amply demonstrates that Sara’s ordeal has had a lasting effect on her, one from which she may never escape.

This confident – and at times surprisingly original film – is the director’s feature-length debut. It will be fascinating to see where he goes next.